Vehicle-signal.



l NATSUO SATO, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

VEHICLE-SIGNAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.l Patented Feb. 12, 1918 Application ledAugust 27, 1914, Serial No. 858,948.

To all lwhom it may concern.'

Be it known that 1, N ATsUo SA'ro, a subject of the Emperor of Japan,residing in the city of Los Angeles, State of California, have inventeda new and useful Vehicle- Signal, ot which the following is aspecification.

This invention pertains to a mechanical device for displaying a signalto indicate the course 'the chauffeur or driver 'of a vehicle intends totake when he reaches an intersecting street, that is to isay, where aturn is to= be made toward the right or toward the left.

The invention may be embodied in various ways in all of which a signalis projected into View at the side of the vehicle toward which the turnis to be made.

compact mechanism which is inexpensive to construct and may readily beadapted to the front portion of automobiles now on the market.

An object of the invention is to provide a visible signal for thepurpose stated which is furnished with an illuminated portion which canbe seen by night as readily as in the daylight.

Referring to the accompanying drawings which illustrate the inventionFigure 1, is-

a perspective view of a portion of an automobile showing the inventionapplied thereto.

tion.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective detail of the signal proper viewedfrom the rear, a portion -of the casing shown being broken away toillustrate interior construction.

shown in Fig. 2 as seen from the front.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross section of Figs. 2 and 3 on line :c4-a2*thereof. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the complete device on asomewhat larger scale than Fig. 1, portions of the casing 4being brokenaway to illustrate interior construc- Fig. 6 is an enlarged crosssection of the casing of thefsignal proper.

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a modiicaf tion, the casing being brokenaway.

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7 except that the caslng is shownintact and the signals are both retracted. i

Referring in detail to'the .`drawings, 2 designates an elongated caserectangular in cross section attached by any suitable `means to thelower portion of the wind shield 3.

-Along the mid-width ofthe rear wall of case 2 as seen in Fig. 5,extends a pair of hollow guide rods 4 and 5, the inner ends of saidrodsbeing each fastened by a clip 6 to the rear Wall'of thecase 2. Over Atherod 4 is telescoped a sleeve 7 and over the rod 5 is telescoped a sleeve8. The sleeves 7- and S respectively carry .on their outerends theindicating hands 9 and 10. Sleeve 7 carries rectangular guiding loops l1and 12 andthe sleeve 8 carries the like guiding loops 13 and 14 theseguiding loops all 5 fitting slidably Within the rectangular case Theinvention is embodied in a simple the gear case 27.

` Within gear case 27 is a main central gear 3l having fixed thereto afiuted or lantern Wheel 32, said gears 31 and 32 being mounted on andfixed to a rotary vertical shaft or pintle 33 which is continuouslydriven by flexible shaft 34. Said flexible shaft 34,

inthe embodiment.- of the invention illustrated in Fig. 1, is driven bythe engine f iiy wheel 35 through tne medium of the Fig. 8 is a sideelevation of the handfriction gear 3G mounted upon a bracket 37.

To the left of pintle 33 is aA gearA 41 which is loosely mounted uponshaft 26 and which is continuously driven by the fluted gear 32. To theright. of pintle 33 is'another gear 42 which is continuously drivenessi' AvAiLAeLe coi 1The inner end of each lspring '6lI extends intotlie adjacent liolloiv guide rod et or 5 and is soldered or otherwisesecured thereto near the inner end of said guide rod.

' Means are provided 'for illuminating the signal proper by an electriccurrent as said signal approaches the extended position.

Referring to Fig. 2 the guide loop 11 carries a pair of moving contacts65 which engage the stationary contacts 66 and by means of the Wires 67light the lamp 68 to illuminate the signal proper when the' same isfully extended. The letters RT indicate right and the letters LT left,said letters being illuminated after the manner of an electric sign byan electric current from the battery 69 provided With the wires 70, 71,72 and 73. Wire 7 3 may be provided with a switch 74 which is opened inthe day time to cut olf: the current when it is not desired toilluminate the signal. i

ln Figs. 7 and 8 .is shown a modification of the means for controllingthe operation of the device. In this form oi the invention the case 2 isprovided with a downward extensionfla in which is placed.lsubstantiallyy the'sam'e gearing as that slioivmin Fig. 5, the *partethereof vbeing therefore designated by the same reference characters.l'n place of the footl operated levers or controlling members 44 and V53controlling handles 91l `and 92 are provided which can be movedverticallyl and laterally' Within the rectangu- -lar slots 93 and Slateengage and disengage ,the clutches with the operating mechanism.

ln operation of the invention, when the clutch 45 is moved into theoperative position'5 the gear 17 acts upon the rack 15 and moves etthand out until said hand is fully the end of rack 15 and, althoughcontinuing to rotate operates only to maintain the left hand extended,against the opposition of the yretreating spring 61.

, The inner end of rack 15 is not shown, but

its position will readily bennderstood from the location of the innerend of the corresponding rack 16 seen in Fig. 5.

While the hand is fully ejected an electric current is maintainedthrough the lampfS (if switch 74 is closed) by reason of Contact armsresting upon the stationary contacts 66. The operation of the right handwill now .be readily understood. When the clutch 52 is moved to theoperative position the idle gear 43 and the chain 25 causes the ear 18to rotate in the proper direction to eJect the right hand.

I claim:

1. In a signaling device for motor vehicles, a casing7 a rod rigidlymounted Within said casing, a sleeve mounted to slide upon said rod andprovided with signal means normally `contained Within said casing, motordriven means for causing said sleeve to slide upony said rod so as toeject said signal means from said casing, said motor driven means beingnormally out of operative con# nection with said sleeve, controllingmeans J for placing said motor driven means in operative connection withsaid sleeve, and spring means for retracting said sleeie and said signalmeans to normal position upon removal of said motor driven means fromoperative connection With said sleeve by release ot' said controllingmeans.

2. In a signaling device for motor vehicles, f

slidably mounted means provided with a signal, motor driven means formoving said slidably mounted means so as to bring said signal intosignaling position, controlling` means for putting said motor drivenmeans into and out of operative connection with said slidably mountedmeans,y and yspring means-for returnin' said signal to non-'signalingposition when said -motor driven c of saidsleeves to move thecorresponding ,l

signal means to signaling position, said motor driven means beingadapted to be'fput out of operative connection' "with said sleeve uponrelease of said controlling means,'and means forv returning said signalrmeans' to non-signaling position upon removal offsaid motor driven meansfrom isuchoperative connection.

` 4. In a signaling device for motor vehicles,

izo

a rod rigidly secured to saidvehicle, a sleeve slidably mounted on saidrod and provided with signal meansspring means attached `to andcontained Within said rod and said sleeve and tending to hold saidsignal means 1n `noii-signaling y position, and operatin means acting onsaid sleeve toniove` sai signal'meansto signaling positionegainst i the'action of said spring, said spring means scribing witnesses at LosAngeles, in the being adapted to return said signal to noncounty of LosAngeles and State of Calisignaling position upon removal of saidopfornia, this 22nd day of August, 1914.

` erating meansv from operative connection NATSUO SATO. 5 lwith saidsleeve. v Witnesses: l

In testimony whereof I have hereunto ALBERT H. MERRILL, -signed. my namein the presence of two sub- R. G. RoBER'rs.

